A&M Downs ODU, Moves into Title Game

LAS VEGAS - No. 22 Texas A&M got a career high 33 points from Kelsey Bone to down
Old Dominion, 78-55, Thursday night to advance to the championship game of the
World Vision Classic at Cox Pavilion.

It was the eight consecutive win for the Aggies (8-3), who will
face No. 5 Notre Dame in the title game Friday at 7:30 p.m. (CT). The Fighting Irish defeated Kansas State,
85-57, earlier today to advance. It will mark the first meeting between A&M
and Notre Dame since the Aggies' historic 76-70 victory over the Fighting Irish
in the 2011 NCAA National Championship game.

While Bone was scoring on the inside and also grabbing a game-high
14 rebounds, senior point guard Adrienne Pratcher also had an all-around
stellar performance, leading Bones' charge by dishing out a career-high 12
assists on the offensive end and spearheading the defensive pressure which
resulted in 23 Old Dominion turnovers, equaling the second most turnovers by an
A&M opponent this season.

Shae Kelley led Old Dominion with 11 points and seven rebounds as the
Lady Monarchs drop to 7-2.

In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, Bone jumpstarted
the Aggies by scoring nine of the team's first 12 points. A&M used a 10-0
run to build a 20-11 lead with 12:05 remaining in the first half, but the Lady
Monarchs would make a run of their own, getting within 23-22 at the 5:47 mark.
It would be the closest Old Dominion would get as Bone hit a jumper in the
paint, and Little made two baskets from the outside for five points to return
an 8-point margin to the Aggies, 30-22, with 3:19 left.

Despite being outshot, 46.2 percent to 39 percent, the Aggies carried
the 8-point lead into the intermission as Bone finished the half with 15 points
to help A&M to a 36-28 advantage.

Old Dominion scored the first bucket in the second half, but the
Aggies quickly mounted a 12-0 run to pull ahead, 48-30. The Lady Monarchs
fought back once again, getting within five points at 54-49 with 8:22
remaining, but they could get no closer. A&M countered with an 8-0 run and
continued to pull away, building its largest lead of the game at 76-53 with
1:26 left in the game on a pair of free throws by Courtney Williams.

Audio of the championship game can be heard on AggieAthletics.com
or KZNE 1150 with Mike Wright and Steve Miller calling the action.

Postgame
quotes:

Texas
A&M Head Coach Gary Blair:

(on the team's play in the second half)

We make adjustments at halftime. We make a little bit of a run
right before half time -- we've had an 8-point lead two games in a row -- and
then they came out and made a run at us. Old Dominion can do it because when you
look at it, we only turned it over only 13 times, but it sure seemed like it
was more. They had 23 turnovers, but at the same time, it was a hard-fought
ball game. We decided we can get the ball inside. We can do the little things
right, and they couldn't stop Kelsey Bone.

(On Adrienne Pratcher)

We did a lot of good things on the defensive end, and Adrienne
Pratcher did a great job of running this ball club. She ended up with 12
assists. I'm sure that is a career high, and she was going against one of the
best defensive guards we have played against all year. Give that kid a little
bit of credit. It is not what she scored, but 12 assists. She knew how to get
it home to (Kelsey Bone).

Pratcher was missing shots. She just said, 'keep letting me
getting the assists. We don't need any more threes, just run my offense,' so I
thought Pratcher did a heck of a job.

(On Peyton Little)

Peyton is a great street shooter. She can find the open person.
That pass that she made to start the second half was the exact call that we set
up. That is what we had to have, so she is learning to be a complete player. We
can start the game with defense, and we can bring the offense off the bench
with Little. I think we've got a good combination going.

Peyton Little gave us some three pointers we had to have in the
first half. She is just a kid, people forget about her because we are slashing
and cutting.

(On the team's inside play)

I thought our inside players again were very good. I thought
Bellock and Bone worked well together. Courtney Williams gave us some good
minutes at the end, but for my H-Town girl (Kelsey Bone), she brought it home
to Houston, split the defense, played within herself very well. We are definitely
going to need the same thing.

(On the team's defensive play)

Defense, we had a good game play. They made a couple of runs because
their little defensive point guard (Ashley Betz-White) was in our shorts the
whole ball game, and I think she is one of the best we have played against. It's
not what she scores, but what she does for her team, and she sets the tempo. Eventually
we just wore them down, and that is all you can do. If you keep scoring inside
on a zone or man, we were doing very well in there tonight.

Postgame Notes

TEAM RECORDS & SERIES NOTES

● Texas
A&M wins its eighth consecutive game to improve to 8-3.

● Old
Dominion suffers only its second loss and falls to 7-2

● This
was the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

TEAM NOTES

● Texas
A&M forced 23 turnovers, equaling the second most by an A&M opponent
this season.